Manchester United's Michael Owen will be out for another four
weeks because of a hamstring problem. Photograph: Mike
Egerton/Empics Sport
Michael Owen has said he wants to
remain at Manchester United despite the
frustrations of being limited to only six starts in the Premier
League since joining the club from Newcastle United last year. In
an interview with The Guardian, Owen maintains he is happy to fight
for his place at Old Trafford and is not planning to move elsewhere
for regular football in the January transfer window.
Gérard Houllier, once his manager at Liverpool, has been
contemplating trying to recruit him for Aston Villa, but Owen says
he is not tempted to start talking to potential buyers, even though
his contract expires at the end of the season and there have been
no indications from Old Trafford about whether he will be offered
new terms.
"I never thought I would start every game when I joined the club
and I have never complained about anything," he says. "I signed a
two-year contract, I'm only 60% into that and hopefully we will
talk [about extending it] before the end of the season."
Owen has started only 14 games in all competitions for United in
16 months at the club and not once been selected by Sir Alex
Ferguson for a Premier League match against a top-eight side. He
goes on to speak about his long history of injury problems,
admitting that he peaked as a footballer when he was only 18.
Now 30, he appears to have slipped to fifth-choice striker at
Old Trafford behind Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Javier
Hernández and even the 19-year-old Federico Macheda. "I am not
going to kid myself because I know that, if I were fit and scored a
hat-trick in the next two or three games, Wayne would still come
back into the team when he is fit again. I know I am not as good as
him. Maybe 10 years ago you could argue I was – but not now.
Owen's bad run of injuries has been compounded by a hamstring
problem and the striker will miss the next four weeks.
